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Posts by Rick

The Report

Mar30
2011 2 Comments Written by Rick

Think about the reports that cross your desk daily. Chances are, you give the reports a brief overview (if at all), shrug your shoulders, and get back to work, changing absolutely nothing about the way you approach your business for the rest of the day. If you’re lucky, you at least might glance at the reports, find something to engage in some self-congratulations about for a few minutes before you get back to business.

And, if that’s all that happens, there was just a tremendous amount of time wasted – from the people that had to gather the data to the people that had to compile the data to the people that had to convert it to a powerpoint slide or spreadsheet to the people that had to listen to or view the presentation.  Wasted time, effort, thought, paper.

What would happen to your team’s performance if you stopped looking at the reports first, and instead focused on the fundamental behaviors that would get you the results you’re looking for?

Set the goal, design a solution set of processes that will get you there, and execute those.

The truth is that a result without process behind it is simply dumb luck.  Eventually, dumb luck runs out and then where are you?  Scrambling for solutions, panicking, putting out fires.

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Unmanliness, Continued

Feb17
2011 1 Comment Written by Rick

Men across the globe are trying to make sure that they maintain a state of manliness at all times. Nearly every day, men type “unmanly” into Google and end up on rickknowles.net to check their current behaviors or accessories against my well-researched lists, found here:

10 Unmanly Things
10 More Unmanly Things
Unmanly Things, Continued
Even More Unmanly Things

The most recent search was “Is it unmanly to be ticklish?”  I’ll address that concern specifically, then add a few more items to the list, just to keep you safe.

No, it is not unmanly to be ticklish.  I suspect that your concern comes from how being ticklish manifests itself in outward behavior.  Examples of unmanly behavior that come as a direct result of being tickled include, but are not limited to: giggling, squealing, and squirming.  These are not your fault, but they can be suppressed.  The easiest way to suppress the unmanly behavior is to punch the tickler.  Start with a punch to the shoulder.  If that doesn’t stop your assailant, go to the ribs, then a direct hit to the nose if necessary.  Your goal is to stop your own unmanliness as soon as possible.

Here’s a few more things declared as unmanly:

  1. Tumblr blogs.  Go ahead and look at one.  Impossible to disagree.
  2. Jamba Juice beverages that do not have protein powder or peanut butter.
  3. Recumbent bikes.  Bicycling should not involve lounging.
  4. Body shaving.
  5. A single guy living alone with a cat.
  6. Biscotti.
  7. Crossing your legs.
  8. Saying “tummy” when you mean your abs, or your gut.
  9. Going on a diet.  No, you’re changing your eating habits.
  10. A cell phone color other than black or silver.
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Tales from Mexico

Feb15
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

My daughter just finished 5 months with YWAM in Ensenada, Mexico City, and the Dominican Republic.  Given that I had only been to Canada (America jr) before, she’s already much more of a world traveler than I am.  I’ve lived about 10 minutes from the Mexican border since 2005 and never crossed over until it was time to either visit Kayla (in December 2010) or take her back home (last week).  I’ve compiled 11 observations about Mexico from those two quick trips:

1. The food is delicious.  Besides a little bit of terrible dining hall food at the YWAM base in Ensenada, I ate nothing but tacos.  There was a little open-air taco shop just down the street that served awesome tacos.  Carne asada, adobada, and chorizo were my favorites.  I did not try the tripa (intestine).  I probably never will.

2. Sex is a major part of Mexican tourism. Walk down the street and find plenty of evidence.  Sex shops, strip clubs, multiple pharmacies selling erection meds (no prescription required), a vendor asking me “Cigars? Liquor? Viagra? Whips? Chains? Massage? Mexican girlfriend? Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you.” Crazy.

3. Many things are much cheaper in Mexico (except Starbucks, which is universally expensive). You want a pullover sweatshirt? $10 – spend at least twice as much in the U.S. You want a blanket? $5-$8 – again, you’ll spend at least twice as much in the U.S.  You want a latte?  Yeah, still $5.

4. Prepare to be mauled by vendors in any shopping district. The vendors will come at you with any and all techniques to get your attention.  I heard these and more:

  • “Hey, Mr. Clean! Come over here!”
  • “Vin Diesel! Come here.”
  • “Everything’s almost free, check it out.”
  • “Come look at some things you don’t need.”
  • “Try my churros, better than the other guys.”
  • “99% off, come on in.”
  • “I’ve got more in the back, come see.”
  • “Make an offer.”
  • “You promised you’d see me on the way back, come on in.”
  • “Hey, nice family! Look over here!”
  • “It’s my turn!  Listen…”

5. Stray dogs are everywhere, and, they’re friendly.  Just like the vendors, they understand that they don’t eat if they bite you.

6. There are no emissions standards.  Around traffic, the scent of high-emissions exhaust assaults your face and you can see the smog hanging in the air.

7. There are so many potholes in the roads, it reminds you of San Diego.  Just kidding, San Diego.  Mexican potholes are deeper.

8. Traffic flaggers make no sense.  In the U.S., there’s a standard set of hand and sign motions designed to get you safely around road construction.  In Mexico, all bets are off as to what the flagger really wants you to do.  To one, waving a flag up and down might mean go ahead, but to another it means slow down.  Construction zones are scary.

9. There is no sense of danger on the roads. A tour bus might blow its air horn at you while traveling 120kmh on a windy mountain road.  A person may pop out of nowhere to run across the highway.  Stop signs are optional.  You just never know.

10. You can’t flush your toilet paper.  The trash can next to the toilet is where that goes. This assault on the nose is much worse than the car exhaust with no emissions standards noted in point #6.

11. The border crossing is insane.  The traffic signs are hard to follow, so you’re not sure if you’re in the right place until your car is surrounded by the border vendors.  You can immediately get an unsolicited window wash, or get any of the following and more: A child’s desk, a Hello Kitty piggy bank, a Super Mario piggy bank, a statue of Mary, a 3′ tall cross with Jesus crucified, hats, blankets, lighted spinny things (like you might get at Disneyland), soft drinks, cut fruit, corn on the cob, fresh churros from the propane-fired deep fryer sitting in the street, and, there’s even a pharmacy right before the border just in case you forgot to pick up your Viagra.

Here’s a little gallery featuring “Viagra Man”, the little blue pill superhero.  He’s coming to save your erection.

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The Cheat Day

Feb09
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

Toward the end of last summer, I began a hibernating phase, eating everything in sight and not worrying about it because I knew that I would need the extra energy found in my fat stores to sleep through the entire winter. It turns out that winter doesn’t exist in San Diego, so I’ve just waddled around with a few extra pounds all winter long. It was time to change all that.

I’ve been on diets before, and I know the routine. In college, I dropped nearly 50 pounds on Weight Watchers. Throughout adulthood, I’ve struggled to maintain an appropriate weight, bouncing my weight up and down (mostly up) through a 10 – 15 pound range. The greatest long-term success I’ve had has come through The South Beach Diet, and that’s been pretty solid through the last 6 years.

The bummer is: I like to eat. I like to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I like to make poor diet choices in favor of taste. I like candy bars, donuts, ice cream, deep-fried everything, regular Coke, and chocolate chip cookies. Heck, I’d even roll around in Butter-Flavored Crisco if it weren’t socially unacceptable. But, that kind of thinking, that kind of loose, devil-may-care attitude about my body’s fuel makes my jeans uncomfortable. And not from excitement.

I decided to check out Tim Ferriss’ book, The Four Hour Body. In it, he details a variety of personal experiments in human effectiveness that become his “uncommon guide to rapid fat-loss, incredible sex, and becoming superhuman.” Sign me up for all three! For now, however, I’m focused on the section of the book on rapid fat loss.

The Slow-Carb Diet he recommends for fat loss is made up of 5 simple rules:
1. Don’t eat white food. No flours, no sugars, nothing that could be made white through processing like brown rice. Essentially, it’s carbohydrate elimination.
2. Eat the same basic meals over and over. Each meal needs a protein, a vegetable, and a legume. Have as much of that as you want, just don’t violate rule number 1.
3. Don’t drink your calories. The Trenti-sized white chocolate chip mocha isn’t helping you.
4. Don’t eat fruit. More carb elimination.
5. Have a cheat day. Eat whatever. Don’t worry about it. Caloric spikes are good for you! Once a week, just go for it. And, most people already cheat on any diet plan they’ve ever tried, so you might as well just plan it in and feel fine with it.

Naturally, I’m attracted to this idea.

The first four rules are essentially The South Beach Diet’s phase 1. Two weeks of carb elimination to kick the sugar habit before you start to gradually introduce some whole grains (phase 2). After meeting your weight loss targets, you graduate to phase 3 to maintain it for the rest of your life with great eating choices.

The fifth rule is the missing link, the one I’ve been searching for. The rule that says eating crappy food is a good thing! So, I gave it a shot.

I started on Monday, January 31st with a renewed focus. It was surprisingly easy to get back into a clean eating lifestyle. After all, I’ve been there before, I know the routine,  and I know it works. Day 1 was no problem, Day 2 found me wanting a late night snack, then days 3-6 were back to being no problem. I was very full, eating a ton of veggies and legumes, as well as plenty of proteins. Within about 3 days, I noticed that clothes were already fitting better. Success! And, Superbowl Sunday (my pre-planned cheat day) was just around the corner!

When Superbowl Sunday came, I started off with a healthy breakfast that really wasn’t that different from the other days of the week. After breakfast, here’s what I had for the rest of the day:
1 Snickers Bar (this was the beginning. I wasn’t even hungry. I just had it because I could.)
2 Chocolate Chunk cookies
1 Raised yeast donut, sugar glazed
After these things, I was really feeling the sugar slam my system. I felt buzzy and strange.
A turkey sandwich (I threw away the bread)
At the Superbowl Party, I had:
3 chili dogs (no bun)
A handful of tortilla chips and liqui-cheese
A few handfuls of regular potato chips and ranch dip
1 cookie
A couple of small handfuls of peanut M&M’s
2 lemon bar squares
1 cupcake
About 10 of the creampuff bites from Costco
I really wasn’t feeling good. In fact, I was craving clean food at this point. But, the cheat day wasn’t over, so we stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some ice cream for sundaes at home. But, before I could make a sundae, I fired up the grill and cooked a chicken breast seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning. Honestly, it was the best-tasting food of the day.
Then I finished with a big bowl of Moose-Tracks ice cream.

I felt gross. I took a couple of Tums and laid in bed thinking about how crappy I felt. Maybe this was the real purpose of the cheat day. Hmmm.

Back to my six days of clean eating…

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South Bay Expressway Strikes Again

Feb05
2011 1 Comment Written by Rick

Following the lead of another frustrated friend, I sent off the following letter to the South Bay Expressway, our local toll road:

There are two components to building sales: volume and price.  I’m disappointed that you have chosen price as your tactic again.  Ultimately, this will decrease the volume that I use the road.

I’m not a huge user, using the toll road only 10 times in the last week.  Your rate hike is ten cents, so, if I didn’t change my behavior at all, you’d bank an extra $1. Sweet.
However, if out of those 10 trips, I decide that just once, I’m going to save a couple of bucks and spend a couple of extra minutes cutting through Bonita to avoid the SR54 to SMR toll of $2.10, you suddenly come out behind on the deal by $1.20.
Or, let’s say that I still like to use the SMR to SR54 route, but to help subsidize those trips, I eliminate just two of the short trips between H & Birch.  The 8 trips that I kept give you an extra $.80.  But, the two trips I eliminated took away $1.70 in potential revenue.  Again, you come out behind.
You’ve placed a big bet on the idea that people won’t change their driving behavior.  I’m not going to say that I’ll stop using the toll road completely.  That’s an empty threat.  But, consider this: There’s financial upside for me to decrease my frequency, eliminate all short trip usage, or cut through Bonita when I feel like I have extra time to save a couple of bucks.  There is very little that increases my desire to increase or even maintain my frequency of use.
The South Bay Expressway is convenient, but completely optional. I see it a lot like the price gouging of cable TV.  As cable TV prices increased, consumers looked for alternatives: Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV, Roku, and the like all provide a lower cost alternative to cable TV.  I’ve gone from the full bundle package with Cox Cable, to a minimalist package with AT&T’s UVerse, and soon to switch to simple on-demand services through internet-only options.  It may not be as convenient to use an alternative, but I’ll save money along the way.  Just like skipping your toll road.
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The Last Word

Feb05
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

Last night, my wife and I were headed over to a friend’s house to hang out, watch some TV, and share some dinner. We agreed on PF Chang’s takeout, so before we left our house, we placed the order and headed over to pick it up. Arriving at PF Chang’s, my wife searched her purse and I checked my pockets, coming to the same conclusion: we forgot our wallets and had to drive home to get them. The following conversation took place (after I finished swearing):

Me: I can’t believe it! I never ever forget my wallet.
Dawn: Yes you do. You forget it all the time.
Me (contemplating): I’ll admit that I have forgotten a few times, but I would never ever say that I forget it all the time.
Dawn: If you get to call it never ever I get to call it all the time.

And that was the last word.

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Beauty From Brokenness

Feb03
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

God changes lives.  He turns your brokenness into beauty when you surrender your life to Him.  Check out Karla’s story in the video below.  She’s a friend of the family, a great co-worker, an awesome communicator, and she’s the real deal.

Beauty from Brokenness

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Growth Group Confession

Feb02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

Every week it’s the same thing: I dread going to my growth group.  And, now I do it twice as much, because I’m in two of them. For the Tuesday evening group that I lead, I think all day about how to get out of it.  But I can’t. I’m the discussion leader, I have the materials, and I have the keys to the location.  For my Friday morning group, I think about sleeping in and skipping it.  But why?  A growth group is supposed to be freeing, faith-building, relationship-developing, and encouraging. Right?  True enough, but none of those good things will happen without the work.

Want to be free? I have to be willing to talk through struggles.  Freedom comes from exposing problems to the light and allowing Jesus to work with me.

Want to build faith? I have to be willing to step out in faith, listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me, and do it.

Want to build relationships? I have to be willing to connect with others, listen, ask follow-up questions to gain understanding, and pray.

Want to be encouraged? Again, I have to be willing to expose my concerns so that others can speak into my life.

So what’s the problem?

I don’t always want to.  In fact, most of the time I don’t want to.  I can think of a bunch of things that I could do instead, like: sleep in a little later, watch a TV show, read, really, anything that would keep me isolated.  The comfortable and easy sounds appealing.  There’s no exposure, no pain, no awkwardness, and no preparation.

Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”

So each week, my heart is deceitful.  It tells me that life would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to deal with the extra obligation of a growth group.  It tells me that it’s painful to grow and that watching House on DVR would be better.  And my heart is wrong.  I go, I participate, I talk, I listen, and I get built up by my friends.  Every time.

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(Another of) My Stupid Obsession(s) – Wife Edition

Jan31
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

I’m not the only one in the house that feels compelled to do things in a certain way, like I’ve explained here and here.  My wife absolutely cannot enjoy a latte unless a couple of things happen.  Here’s her account:

It can be hard to understand sometimes where a person’s quirky obsessions or compulsions come from.They can seem so random, but they’re always there to help you alleviate anxiety. I will admit that I have obsessive compulsive tendencies. I think almost everyone in my family does. Our pediatrician said “well, if you plant potatoes, you get potatoes.” That was obviously his permission to blame our parents for this one. But unlike some in my family who have to stub their toe on the right foot if they stub a toe on the left, mine are always rooted in reality in some way.

One of my main OCD things has to do with my food sensitivities. I don’t tolerate caffeine well. It makes my eyeballs jitter, my heart race and my hands shake. It also gives me headaches and makes me hyper. I am also allergic to dairy. So when I go to a coffee shop, like Peets or Starbucks, Ialways order decaf, soy. But it doesn’t stop there. I don’t actually trust them to make my drink right.I know how sick I’ll be if I receive real milk or caffeine so I have a couple of “routines” that have to be adhered to. First, after I give them my order, if they didn’t seem like they were paying attention, I ask, “I said decaf soy, right?” When they call out my drink, if they don’t say “I have a decaf soy latte for Dawn” and instead just call my name I have to clarify with, “it’s decaf soy,right?”  The worst part is that I can be standing there and watching them make it and I still have to have the verbal clarity or I don’t enjoy my drink. If someone else is picking up my drink for me I have them clarify it or I can’t drink it. When I first started doing this I realized I was being slightly ridiculous so I would ignore that inner prompting, but my husband was the one who suffered. I would take one sip and then ask him to taste it. “Does this taste like soy to you.” After another sip I would ask again, “are you sure it doesn’t taste like dairy?”

Unfortunately, both chains have reinforced my need to do this because there have been times when both of them have said they didn’t remember or didn’t hear one of my directions and so my drink was made with real milk or caffeinated espresso. Whenever that happens my “routine” gets a little more ingrained in my brain as something that I can’t drink my latte without. I’m not sure how anyone else ever enjoys their coffee without doing this. I think what I need to do is just be a regular enough customer that they know my quirk so that they can tell the new employees, “ok, this lady is really weird, you have to make sure you say decaf soy as you give her the drink or she can’t drink it.” The only other option would be to trust them to do the job correctly and as much as I love both brands, I just can’t take that leap.

From my perspective, it’s comical to watch it all take place.  You can see her anxiety level rise if the confirmation steps are missed.  If she were wired with medical equipment, you’d see brain activity spike in the anxietal lobe, her pulse would quicken, blood pressure would rise, and her palms would get a little sweaty.  I’d like to think that her steps aren’t necessary, but given the number of times that it hasn’t been right, and the damage that it would cause if she ingested an improperly made drink, I have to support her completely.  I’d rather be on the receiving end of a weird look or rolled eyes than have my wife sick.  Until there’s a sustained accuracy rate of 100%, we’ll stick with Confirm, Execute, Confirm again.

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15 Years Later

Jan28
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick

15 years ago today was Superbowl XXX.  The game featured the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that’s really not important.  In fact, I only know that because I looked it up.  The real story of that Sunday is much closer to my heart.

It was a snowy day in Tacoma, Washington and my wife (28) our daughter (almost 5) and our son (almost 1) had enjoyed a Superbowl party over at a sister’s house.  Dawn (my wife) had stayed close by during the game since she hadn’t been feeling all that well recently.  And, she was probably a little nervous that her cardiologist had called a couple of days before to schedule a follow-up appointment.  Dr. Otto had just reviewed the results of Dawn’s most recent echocardiogram and didn’t like what she had seen.

Once we made the slow, slippery drive home from the party, we settled in for a standard evening routine to get the kids to bed.  Things changed quickly once our son was put to bed.  My wife said:

“So we got home and I nursed and rocked my baby to sleep and then just sat and held him for a long time. Finally I laid him down and went to brush my teeth and noticed that the vessels in my neck were all standing out. And I felt this horrible pain in my neck. I told my husband something was wrong, that my neck really hurt. He offered to rub it and I told him he needed to call 911, to tell them that my aorta was probably dissecting. The pain radiated from my neck up to my jaw and finally down to my chest. Sitting on the floor in my living room waiting for the ambulance was horrible. I hurt so bad and I was so scared that I was dying. 2 rescue crews came up to the house and the first thing I said was “don’t wake my kids, you’ll scare them”, the second was “don’t let me die”. I was terrified, I was 28, too young to leave my husband and babies. Then a woman walked through the door with the 2nd crew and I felt this relief. I didn’t know her but I felt something. She came and sat next to me and I told her they couldn’t let me die. She said they were going to take care of me and then I asked her if she prayed. She said “all the time” and I said “then please start praying.” And she did. She didn’t pray aloud, but I instantly felt peace. All of my fear evaporated and I knew that God was taking care of me and I was going to be ok.”

Backing it up a bit, my wife has Marfan Syndrome, a disorder involving the connective tissue.  Outwardly, she might appear to have lax joints but internally, the biggest risk involves the connective tissue surrounding the heart.  Weakening of the connective tissue surrounding the heart results in progressive dilation of the aorta, which in turn can result in a emergency situation from a dissecting aortic aneurism.  For more information, check out the National Marfan Foundation here.

My wife had been taken to the emergency room, where she became an excellent self-advocate, giving the doctor her diagnosis and asking how he planned to continue.  He had planned to start with standard cardiac testing, as if the concern was a heart attack, but she pressed for a CT scan or at least an X-ray to find the damage.  The local ER soon realized that they weren’t equipped for what she needed, so they arranged for a transfer to a hospital that could handle heart surgery.  I went to be with the kids at home while she was transported by ambulance to the University of Washington Medical Center.  Roads were terrible, icy, and dangerous from the snowstorm and along the way, the tire chains broke on two occasions, leaving Dawn in the ambulance alone.  She said:

“I remember lying there alone thinking “wow, God, this would be really scary if you weren’t here and I was actually alone.” But because I knew God had this one, rather than fear I just felt this amazing peace, that peace that’s beyond all understanding. I am a person who goes to fear and anxiety easily. But I truly didn’t have any. I felt like I was wrapped in the arms of the one who had made my body and he was the one who would make sure that I was taken care of. So I didn’t need to be afraid.”

I can remember feeling the same way, knowing that God had things under control.  It was all going to be okay.  I felt a kind of uneasy peace.  Uneasy because it was unknown and overwhelming.  Peace because I knew and felt that God was completely in it with me.  I had been a casual participant in faith previously, but this time I knew that I simply couldn’t handle it on my own.  I leaned hard on God and He delivered with hope, peace, love and ultimately, returning my wife to me.

Take some time to read Dawn’s account of the day of her emergency open heart surgery at the link below. It’s a wonderful, miraculous story that I continue to celebrate, 15 years later and with many more years to come.

http://dawn-learningtofollow.blogspot.com/2010/01/reason-to-celebrate.html

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